Measurement of the (unknown) thickness of a film of material, which is mounted on one of its flat faces on a solid substrate of different material, is a continuing problem in materials science. The film may have certain mechanical, electrical, magnetic or optical properties that vary with film thickness so that accurate determination of film thickness is necessary before one can predict the response of the film/substrate combination. Uniformity of film thickness may be a goal so that measurements of film thickness at a number of locations must be made to confirm or refute the assumption that film thickness is substantially uniform.